“The world is deathly ill. It is dying. The Great Physician has already signed the death certificate. Yet there is still a great work for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water, channels of mercy to those who are still in the world. It is possible for them to do this because they are overcomers.
Christians are ambassadors for Christ. They are representatives from Heaven to this dying world. And because of our presence here, things will change.
My sister, Betsy, and I were in the Nazi concentration camp at Ravensbruck because we committed the crime of loving Jews. Seven hundred of us from Holland, France, Russia, Poland and Belgium were herded into a room built for two hundred. As far as I knew, Betsy and I were the only two representatives of Heaven in that room.
We may have been the Lords only representatives in that place of hatred, yet because of our presence there, things changed. Jesus said, In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. We too, are to be overcomers – bringing the light of Jesus into a world filled with darkness and hate.
Sometimes I get frightened as I read the Bible, and as I look in this world and see all of the tribulation and persecution promised by the Bible coming true. Now I can tell you, though, if you too are afraid, that I have just read the last pages. I can now come to shouting Hallelujah! Hallelujah! for I have found where it is written that Jesus said, He that overcometh shall inherit all things: and I will be His God, and he shall be My son. This is the future and hope of this world. Not that the world will survive – but that we shall be overcomers in the midst of a dying world.
Betsy and I, in the concentration camp, prayed that God would heal Betsy who was so weak and sick. Yes, the Lord will heal me, Betsy said with confidence. She died the next day and I could not understand it. They laid her thin body on the concrete floor along with all the other corpses of the women who died that day.
It was hard for me to understand, to believe that God had a purpose for all that. Yet because of Betsy’s death, today I am traveling all over the world telling people about Jesus.
There are some among us teaching there will be no tribulation, that the Christians will be able to escape all this. These are the false teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days. Most of them have little knowledge of what is already going on across the world. I have been in countries where the saints are already suffering terrible persecution. In China, the Christians were told, Don’t worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated – raptured. Then came a terrible persecution. Millions of Christians were tortured to death. Later I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly, We have failed. We should have made the people strong for persecution rather than telling them Jesus would come first. Tell the people how to be strong in times of persecution, how to stand when the tribulation comes – to stand and not faint.
I feel I have a divine mandate to go and tell the people of this world that it is possible to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in training for the tribulation, but more than sixty percent of the Body of Christ across the world has already entered into the tribulation. There is no way to escape it. We are next.
Since I have already gone through prison for Jesus sake, and since I met the Bishop in China, now every time I read a good Bible text I think, Hey, I can use that in the time of tribulation. Then I write it down and learn it by heart.
When I was in the concentration camp, a camp where only twenty percent of the women came out alive, we tried to cheer each other up by saying, Nothing could be any worse than today. But we would find the next day was even worse. During this time a Bible verse that I had committed to memory gave me great hope and joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part evil is spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. (I Peter 3:14) I found myself saying, Hallelujah! Because I am suffering, Jesus is glorified!
In America, the churches sing, Let the congregation escape tribulation, but in China and Africa the tribulation has already arrived. This last year alone more than two hundred thousand Christians were martyred in Africa. Now things like that never get into the newspapers because they cause bad political relations. But I know. I have been there. We need to think about that when we sit down in our nice houses with our nice clothes to eat our steak dinners. Many, many members of the Body of Christ are being tortured to death at this very moment, yet we continue right on as though we are all going to escape the tribulation.
Several years ago I was in Africa in a nation where a new government had come into power. The first night I was there some of the Christians were commanded to come to the police station to register. When they arrived they were arrested and that same night they were executed. The next day the same thing happened with other Christians. The third day it was the same. All the Christians in the district were being systematically murdered.
The fourth day I was to speak in a little church. The people came, but they were filled with fear and tension. All during the service they were looking at each other, their eyes asking, Will this one I am sitting beside be the next one killed? Will I be the next one?
The room was hot and stuffy with insects that came through the screenless windows and swirled around the naked bulbs over the bare wooden benches. I told them a story out of my childhood.
When I was a little girl, I said, I went to my father and said, Daddy, I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a marty for Jesus Christ. Tell me, said Father, When you take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before? No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train. That is right, my father said, and so it is with Gods strength. Our Father in Heaven knows when you will need the strength to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. He will supply all you need – just in time
My African friends were nodding and smiling. Suddenly a spirit of joy descended upon that church and the people began singing, In the sweet, by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore. Later that week, half the congregation of that church was executed. I heard later that the other half was killed some months ago.
But I must tell you something. I was so happy that the Lord used me to encourage these people, for unlike many of their leaders, I had the word of God. I had been to the Bible and discovered that Jesus said He had not only overcome the world, but to all those who remained faithful to the end, He would give a crown of life.
How can we get ready for the persecution? First we need to feed on the word of God, digest it, make it a part of our being. This will mean disciplined Bible study each day as we not only memorize long passages of scripture, but put the principles to work in our lives.
Next we need to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Not just the Jesus of yesterday, the Jesus of History, but the life-changing Jesus of today who is still alive and sitting at the right hand of God.
We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is no optional command of the Bible, it is absolutely necessary. Those earthly disciples could never have stood up under the persecution of the Jews and Romans had they not waited for Pentecost. Each of us needs our own personal Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We will never be able to stand in the tribulation without it.
In the coming persecution we must be ready to help each other and encourage each other. But we must not wait until the tribulation comes before starting. The fruit of the Spirit should be the dominant force of every Christians life.
Many are fearful of the coming tribulation, they want to run. I, too, am a little bit afraid when I think that after all my eighty years, including the horrible nazi concentration camp, that I might have to go through the tribulation also. But then I read the Bible and I am glad.
When I am weak, then I shall be strong, the Bible says. Betsy and I were prisoners for the Lord, we were so weak, but we got power because the Holy Spirit was on us. That mighty inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit helped us through. No, you will not be strong in yourself when the tribulation comes. Rather, you will be strong in the power of Him who will not forsake you. For seventy-six years I have known the Lord Jesus and not once has He ever left me, or let me down. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him, for I know that to all who overcome, He shall give the crown of life. Hallelujah!”
Friday, April 22, 2011
Hearing God on the Job (Os Hillman)
This is a great story by Os Hillman. I've learnt that when God asks us to do something, we may not always understand, but He calls us to obey anyway. His ways are truly higher than our ways. Amen.
"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong" (1 Cor 1:26-27).
God is raising up a new kind of workplace believer who is experiencing the power of God in their daily work life. My friend, Emeka Nywankpa, was a barrister (lawyer) in Nigeria. Emeka spoke at a conference a few years ago on the subject of how the spiritual impacts the physical.
Emeka shared a story about arguing an important Supreme Court case in his country. There were five points to argue in the case. The morning the trial began, he prayed with his wife and junior lawyers in his chambers. During his prayer time, he sensed that the Holy Spirit was telling him, "Do not argue points one through four. Only argue point five." Imagine making such a change just before you are to argue a case before the Supreme Court!
In the courtroom, Emeka announced that he wished to drop points one through four and only wished to argue point five. The judge was shocked, but gave him permission to proceed. He argued point five and sat down. The other attorney got up, and then for twelve minutes stumbled around trying to defend his position, unable to get a coherent word out.
Finally, he approached the bench and said, "Your Lordship, it is unfortunate that my learned friend has dropped the first four points. I wish to yield the case." The other attorney had only prepared for the first four points. Emeka won the case. God had given him a strategy to win his case supernaturally. It made no sense to him, but he obeyed and God gave him victory in a very unusual way.
Isaiah 48:17 tells us "Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: 'I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.'"
When is the last time you allowed God to give you a strategy to be successful in your work life call and bring glory to His name? This is his desire for you.
"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong" (1 Cor 1:26-27).
God is raising up a new kind of workplace believer who is experiencing the power of God in their daily work life. My friend, Emeka Nywankpa, was a barrister (lawyer) in Nigeria. Emeka spoke at a conference a few years ago on the subject of how the spiritual impacts the physical.
Emeka shared a story about arguing an important Supreme Court case in his country. There were five points to argue in the case. The morning the trial began, he prayed with his wife and junior lawyers in his chambers. During his prayer time, he sensed that the Holy Spirit was telling him, "Do not argue points one through four. Only argue point five." Imagine making such a change just before you are to argue a case before the Supreme Court!
In the courtroom, Emeka announced that he wished to drop points one through four and only wished to argue point five. The judge was shocked, but gave him permission to proceed. He argued point five and sat down. The other attorney got up, and then for twelve minutes stumbled around trying to defend his position, unable to get a coherent word out.
Finally, he approached the bench and said, "Your Lordship, it is unfortunate that my learned friend has dropped the first four points. I wish to yield the case." The other attorney had only prepared for the first four points. Emeka won the case. God had given him a strategy to win his case supernaturally. It made no sense to him, but he obeyed and God gave him victory in a very unusual way.
Isaiah 48:17 tells us "Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: 'I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.'"
When is the last time you allowed God to give you a strategy to be successful in your work life call and bring glory to His name? This is his desire for you.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Longing for God's presence
Thursday and Friday, I attended a healing conference. It was a powerful time, and we were all so blessed! God desires to heal. We know it from Psalm 103. "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul and forget not all his benefits — who forgives all your sins, and heals all your diseases." We were asked: What is the scope of diseases that God heals. The answer: He can heal any disease. Every disease. Nothing is outside the scope. He heals all our diseases.
But Thursday night, at 3am in the morning, the Lord spoke clearly to my heart. I thought there was even a sadness in His voice. He said: "My people long for my healing. Oh, that they would long for my presence."
I was so convicted by that. It drove me to repentance myself. For that morning, my neck was in acute pain and I had also sought the Lord for healing. Nothing wrong with that, but I believe the Lord is sometimes grieved that we (I) have a greater longing for the gift than the Giver.
And then I was reminded by how foolish we are. For in His presence is fullness of joy. At His right hand are pleasures evermore (Psalm 16) When God visits us His presence, every need is met. Every disease healed.
God called David a man after His own heart. And I believe it was because David walked with God in a certain way. The New American Bible translates it as such in 2 Chronicles 7 - where God tells Solomon:
"As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David did, doing all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and ordinances, I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David when I said, 'There shall never be lacking someone of yours as ruler in Israel."
Oh that we would seek His face, and live in His presence.
As I considered these things, we sang this song "Here in His presence" at Cornerstone the past two days. It totally echoes what is own my heart.
But Thursday night, at 3am in the morning, the Lord spoke clearly to my heart. I thought there was even a sadness in His voice. He said: "My people long for my healing. Oh, that they would long for my presence."
I was so convicted by that. It drove me to repentance myself. For that morning, my neck was in acute pain and I had also sought the Lord for healing. Nothing wrong with that, but I believe the Lord is sometimes grieved that we (I) have a greater longing for the gift than the Giver.
And then I was reminded by how foolish we are. For in His presence is fullness of joy. At His right hand are pleasures evermore (Psalm 16) When God visits us His presence, every need is met. Every disease healed.
God called David a man after His own heart. And I believe it was because David walked with God in a certain way. The New American Bible translates it as such in 2 Chronicles 7 - where God tells Solomon:
"As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David did, doing all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and ordinances, I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David when I said, 'There shall never be lacking someone of yours as ruler in Israel."
Oh that we would seek His face, and live in His presence.
As I considered these things, we sang this song "Here in His presence" at Cornerstone the past two days. It totally echoes what is own my heart.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
No Greater Love (Rachael Lampa)
"We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19) If only we would be able to grasp God's stupendous love for us, this will completely transform us, and the way we live.
This song by Rachael Lampa - "No Greater Love" - speaks of Christ's love for us, and is simply gorgeous.
Before I knew Your Name,
You knew my ev’ry breath.
Before I found my way,
You knew my ev’ry step.
Before I knew everything that I need,
You gave it all to me.
No greater love than this…
That You should lay down Your life
For someone such as me;
I’d spend a lifetime wondering why.
The Beauty of Heaven
Is here in my heart
And I know there can be
No greater love than this.
I never understood
How merciful Love could be,
Until I felt His Flame
Light every part of me
And I would give everything that I am
’ Cause I have been saved;
Yes, I have been saved!
No greater love than this…
That You should lay down Your life
For someone such as me;
I’d spend a lifetime wondering why.
The Beauty of Heaven
Is here in my heart
And I know there can be
No greater love.
Oh, oh oh, oh oh, woah…
The Beauty of Heaven
Is here in my heart
And I know there can be
No greater love...
For someone such as me.
No greater love...than this.
This song by Rachael Lampa - "No Greater Love" - speaks of Christ's love for us, and is simply gorgeous.
Before I knew Your Name,
You knew my ev’ry breath.
Before I found my way,
You knew my ev’ry step.
Before I knew everything that I need,
You gave it all to me.
No greater love than this…
That You should lay down Your life
For someone such as me;
I’d spend a lifetime wondering why.
The Beauty of Heaven
Is here in my heart
And I know there can be
No greater love than this.
I never understood
How merciful Love could be,
Until I felt His Flame
Light every part of me
And I would give everything that I am
’ Cause I have been saved;
Yes, I have been saved!
No greater love than this…
That You should lay down Your life
For someone such as me;
I’d spend a lifetime wondering why.
The Beauty of Heaven
Is here in my heart
And I know there can be
No greater love.
Oh, oh oh, oh oh, woah…
The Beauty of Heaven
Is here in my heart
And I know there can be
No greater love...
For someone such as me.
No greater love...than this.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Pentecost (Leonard Ravenhill)
These words by revivalist Leonard Ravenhill have been resounding in my heart: "A fire is self-announcing. A conflagration needs no publicity." Would it be that the church of Jesus Christ would draw all men to Him, by the sheer witness of His fire in us. Amen.
Pentecost
By Leonard Ravenhill
Lord Montgomery, that unpredictable British field Marshall, said recently that England went into the Second World War equipped to fight the First World War. This was a polite way of saying that in World War II England was way behind the times in battle equipment and strategy.
When Sir Christopher Wren designed the great St. Paul's cathedral in London, he planned a thing of lasting beauty and unfading charm, but did not order it air-conditioned. When George Stephenson built his rocket engine, it was not smooth, herculean diesel, but a low-powered hissing machine. In other words, both Wren and Stephenson underestimated the needs of our day, and designed for their day.
Many today have a benevolent patronage of the church of Jesus Christ (or what they mistakenly think is the church of Jesus Christ). These "wise ones" think that the psalm-singing saints are as much out of line with the atomic age as a penny-farthing bicycle would be on a motor-crowded four-lane highway. Was Jesus Christ guilty, then, of underestimating the need of this twentieth century? Is the Church which Christ founded a cumbersome, slow-moving thing, badly needing a gigantic overhauling and a government subsidy to get her up to date and moving? No! The church does not need state support.
We concede, however, that the Church does need a mighty overhauling by divine Hands, that is, she needs the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. When the Lord Christ ascended into heaven from Mt. Olivet, He charged the disciples that they should "wait for the promise of the Father" - the "baptism of the Holy Ghost" with its resultant power.
This promise was exclusive - "Ye shall receive power." Who was to receive the promise? Only the followers of Christ.
The promise was exciting - "Ye shall receive power." In eager anticipation of this blessed enduement, the waiting ones could see all their weakness evaporating in the baptism of fire.
The promise was explicit - "Not many days hence."
The promise was expanding - This thing was not to be done in a corner, nor whispered among the redeemed. It would reach out through them to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.
This promise was exalting - In the whole world of created things there is no greater power than that of the Holy Spirit of God. They were to be filled with the Spirit of the living God. Earth has no greater honor than that.
Angels, behold and wonder!
Every thing in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters above the earth - all these are the work of His fingers and this Mighty one is He who condescends to come and indwell mortals.
But though Pentecost meant power to the disciples - it also meant prison to them. Pentecost meant enduement - it almost meant banishment. Pentecost meant favor with God - it also brought hatred from men. Pentecost brought great miracles - it also brought mighty obstacles. Pentecost brought anointing for the upper room preachers - it also brought appointing a deacon and under the enduement he turned Samaria upside down.
In Europe Pentecost Sunday is always called Whitsunday (White Sunday), and the children usually dress in white. The disciples were "made white" at the first Pentecost - that is, their hearts were "purified by faith" (Acts 15:8, 9). This purification is a lost accent these days in interpreting the Baptism with Spirit. Under the title of Spirit-filled churches, there are some weird and wanton things operating at present.
If too much stress has not been made of the gifts of the Spirit, then too little has been said of the fruit of the Spirit. Note how few books are available on the fruits of the Spirit, but how many on the gifts of the Spirit. Yet the Son of God said, "By their fruits ye shall know them."
The first essential for the coming of the Holy Ghost into a heart today is that the heart should be cleansed from sin, for the Holy Spirit does not fill an unclean heart. What God has cleansed, He then fills. Finally, whom God fills, He uses. A holy life is the authentic sign of being filled with the Spirit.
Today we need a revival of holy living. Why do we have to hang a sign outside our church to announce that we are Fundamental and Biblical? Because without a sign, no one could identify us? When I passed through a town that a few days before had been torn apart by a tornado, I assure you I had not to be told a mighty wind had cleaved the place. A fire is self-announcing. A conflagration needs no publicity. When the fire of the Holy Ghost falls again and the mighty wind of the Spirit comes (I am positive He is coming), then our "bush" will burn too, and a Moses will turn again to see the great sight. Even so, come Holy Ghost! Come quickly!
Pentecost
By Leonard Ravenhill
Lord Montgomery, that unpredictable British field Marshall, said recently that England went into the Second World War equipped to fight the First World War. This was a polite way of saying that in World War II England was way behind the times in battle equipment and strategy.
When Sir Christopher Wren designed the great St. Paul's cathedral in London, he planned a thing of lasting beauty and unfading charm, but did not order it air-conditioned. When George Stephenson built his rocket engine, it was not smooth, herculean diesel, but a low-powered hissing machine. In other words, both Wren and Stephenson underestimated the needs of our day, and designed for their day.
Many today have a benevolent patronage of the church of Jesus Christ (or what they mistakenly think is the church of Jesus Christ). These "wise ones" think that the psalm-singing saints are as much out of line with the atomic age as a penny-farthing bicycle would be on a motor-crowded four-lane highway. Was Jesus Christ guilty, then, of underestimating the need of this twentieth century? Is the Church which Christ founded a cumbersome, slow-moving thing, badly needing a gigantic overhauling and a government subsidy to get her up to date and moving? No! The church does not need state support.
We concede, however, that the Church does need a mighty overhauling by divine Hands, that is, she needs the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. When the Lord Christ ascended into heaven from Mt. Olivet, He charged the disciples that they should "wait for the promise of the Father" - the "baptism of the Holy Ghost" with its resultant power.
This promise was exclusive - "Ye shall receive power." Who was to receive the promise? Only the followers of Christ.
The promise was exciting - "Ye shall receive power." In eager anticipation of this blessed enduement, the waiting ones could see all their weakness evaporating in the baptism of fire.
The promise was explicit - "Not many days hence."
The promise was expanding - This thing was not to be done in a corner, nor whispered among the redeemed. It would reach out through them to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.
This promise was exalting - In the whole world of created things there is no greater power than that of the Holy Spirit of God. They were to be filled with the Spirit of the living God. Earth has no greater honor than that.
Angels, behold and wonder!
Every thing in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters above the earth - all these are the work of His fingers and this Mighty one is He who condescends to come and indwell mortals.
But though Pentecost meant power to the disciples - it also meant prison to them. Pentecost meant enduement - it almost meant banishment. Pentecost meant favor with God - it also brought hatred from men. Pentecost brought great miracles - it also brought mighty obstacles. Pentecost brought anointing for the upper room preachers - it also brought appointing a deacon and under the enduement he turned Samaria upside down.
In Europe Pentecost Sunday is always called Whitsunday (White Sunday), and the children usually dress in white. The disciples were "made white" at the first Pentecost - that is, their hearts were "purified by faith" (Acts 15:8, 9). This purification is a lost accent these days in interpreting the Baptism with Spirit. Under the title of Spirit-filled churches, there are some weird and wanton things operating at present.
If too much stress has not been made of the gifts of the Spirit, then too little has been said of the fruit of the Spirit. Note how few books are available on the fruits of the Spirit, but how many on the gifts of the Spirit. Yet the Son of God said, "By their fruits ye shall know them."
The first essential for the coming of the Holy Ghost into a heart today is that the heart should be cleansed from sin, for the Holy Spirit does not fill an unclean heart. What God has cleansed, He then fills. Finally, whom God fills, He uses. A holy life is the authentic sign of being filled with the Spirit.
Today we need a revival of holy living. Why do we have to hang a sign outside our church to announce that we are Fundamental and Biblical? Because without a sign, no one could identify us? When I passed through a town that a few days before had been torn apart by a tornado, I assure you I had not to be told a mighty wind had cleaved the place. A fire is self-announcing. A conflagration needs no publicity. When the fire of the Holy Ghost falls again and the mighty wind of the Spirit comes (I am positive He is coming), then our "bush" will burn too, and a Moses will turn again to see the great sight. Even so, come Holy Ghost! Come quickly!
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